23 Comments
Sep 25, 2022Liked by Rebecca Birch

Great job, thank you!! Lots to ponder!!

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Why original? Nothing is. CCT is connecting dots, a crossword puzzle. No originality required.

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Creative thinking and critical thinking are two very different modes of cognition taking place in different parts of the brain. They cannot be defined simultaneously.

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Sep 26, 2022Liked by Rebecca Birch

Do you think people over reach when they image what teaching creativity produces? The best available everyday examples of creativity are the successful novel products such as the iPhone or Nobel winning science or successful books, films or music.

These all come from people who have spent a lot more time dedicated to one topic than most teenagers.

What would be the smallest thing a student could produce that required creativity? Could a single sentence show creativity or a paragraph?

In mathematics the problems used in competitions might be a small scale example. They are chosen so that they require some insight to do either quickly or well and so that it is unlikely the student has seen the same problem before. There is also often scope for some qualitative view of the answer such as a significantly shorter right answer being more pleasing.

I do share the view that creativity is not transferable but consider that once attaining some creative skill in one area a student would appreciate the satisfaction of mastery and what it takes and looks like if they want to develop it in other areas. So it definitely seems worth teaching it within some areas the students are studying.

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Nonsense question: ‘What creativity skills have you learned that you wanted to pass on, which ones do you use?' Question assumes creativity is the same kind of skill as being able to play a Jimi Hendrix solo or mend a pair of boots. It is not. Creativity like courage is a meta skill. Completely different genus. The question is a 'when-did-you-stop-beating-your-wife? trap.

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Sep 26, 2022Liked by Rebecca Birch

Great provocation, Rebecca. I think yes, critical and creative thinking practices can be taught and fostered - and should be... developmentally appropriately, and knowledge-based, from a young age.

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